VARANASI: A notorious criminal carrying a ₹50,000 bounty was shot dead late Thursday during an encounter with a joint team of the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF), Azamgarh SWAT, and Sidhari police in Azamgarh district. Three of his aides managed to escape, police said.
The slain criminal, identified as Waqif, was wanted in multiple cases of murder, robbery, cattle smuggling, and theft. According to police, he had at least 67 criminal cases registered against him across Azamgarh, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Sant Kabir Nagar, and Jaunpur districts.
Acting on a tip-off about the movement of wanted criminals near the Chhoti Saryu river in Jokahra village, police teams set up an interception. When challenged, the suspects allegedly opened fire, prompting retaliatory action in which Waqif was killed.
Search operations are underway to trace the absconding accomplices, officials said.
